Review: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole

Title: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark #3
Pages: 359
Publisher: Pocket Star
Format: Paperback
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Library

Synopsis:

Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed -- until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, a powerful sorceress from the Louisiana coven of witches. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.  Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It's rumored that no one can tempt Bowen's hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul -- or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

My Review:
With the Immortals After Dark series, what you see is what you get. The covers and synopsis's (synopsii?) are a tad cheesy and extremely on the cliche romance novel side of things...but they are amazingly fun and totally hot! :) I hate to admit it, but I am a little embarrassed to be caught reading these books in public. I love them, and I know that they have fantastic witty banter, hilarious characters, and pretty awesome plots...but when friends or even random strangers catch sight of the covers...I can't help but feel like they are thinking..."that chick is totally reading vampire porn right now..." lol...especially with a title as raunchy as Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night...which, now that we're on that topic has NOTHING to do with the story...they spend half their time in Guatemala for goodness sake...anyways, despite the embarrassment, I would still read the IAD series anywhere, because they are definitely some of the best paranormal romances you can find and Kresley Cole is a very talented and entertaining writer. :)

The plot of Winter's Night picked right up where No Rest for the Wicked ended. In fact, it goes into detail about events that occur in the previous book simultaneously so it was great to get a different perspective of the events that were so climatic in the last one. Where we left Mari, Bowen had locked her in a tomb, thinking that she could get out because she's this all-powerful witch. Little did he know that her powers are VERY unstable. So unstable that she blows up her target 99 times out of 100 tries. He also happened to forget the fact that there were centuries-old evil incubii that lived in the tomb, oh, and Mari is mortal so if she is left there longer than a few weeks, she will die from starvation, exposure, and thirst. Bowen is appalled to find out this information...three weeks after he locked her in. He can't figure out why he feels so strongly for Mari...his mate Mariah died centuries before, and the lykae are supposed to only get one mate, one true love, for their entire lives. But Bowen can't stop thinking of Mari, and despite his hatred of witches, he feels compelled to risk his life to guarantee her safety and return to her coven. They have to travel through a war-torn South America with two demons as their companions, to get home before the witches bring about a war like none of the lore have seen for centuries to get their "awaited one" back. Definitely fun stuff :)

Mariket and Bowen make a super adorable couple. Both of them have their insecurities and their strengths, but they work really well together. My heart goes out to Bowen especially. Cole knows how to create the perfect mixture of insecurity, tormented past, and alpha-male hotness in a man to create pretty much the ultimate paranormal hottie. Bowen is especially tormented by the death of a woman he thought he loved, which makes him all that more attractive. The other men who have been featured have lost family, or were tortured, but none of them lost the love of their lives and I think that definitely gives Bowen an edge. As much as I loved Mari and Bowe together, they seemed to click a little to quickly for tastes...they hated each other at first so when they were all the sudden like...ripping each other's clothes off I was a little like...wait...what just happened???

Individually, both of them were fantastic lead characters as well. I really liked Mari, just because she is a little different from the Valkyrie who were featured in the first books. Where most of the Valkyrie have been alive for centuries and already honed their powers, Mari is still figuring out what to do with herself and trying not to blow things up in the process. It was also nice to read about a witch for a change. Witches are some of my favorite paranormal characters and I feel like I rarely get a chance to read books featuring them. They just aren't as popular as vampires and werewolves right now...*sigh*...But Mari was totally kick-ass and is an amazing combination of power and instability so she's this constant tension throughout the book because you don't know how her powers will strike out. I do wish we could have learned a little more about Mari's coven and the witches in general. We find out SO much about the Valkyrie and their crazy, hectic, sorority-house of a family that you really want to see something similar or at least equal to the Valk's awesomeness.

I HAVE to keep saying that this is a series that you should definitely read in order. Although you are apparently(according to author website and Goodreads, Amazon, etc.) able to read them in any order you want, I feel like I would be super confused if I read them out of order. All of the characters from past books make cameo appearances in this one, and they reference events that happened in their own book so I would definitely recommend reading them in order. Plus...if you hadn't already read about Kaderin and Sebastian, Lachlain and Emma...etc...you wouldn't be able to giggle and fawn at their total epic cuteness in the following books.  I would also read these books as close together as possible because I found myself really confused with the different characters after I read the books a month or so apart.

I give Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night 4 Stars. I'm grading this purely on a genre standpoint. No it's not intellectual or containing earth-shattering revelations about the human condition, but it is an excellent example of paranormal romance. You get super hot love-scenes, dramatic fights with supernatural fuglies of all sorts, and of course magical adventures of the paranormal sort.

This book qualifies in the Witchcraft and Witches challenge at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

Review: No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole

Title: No Rest for the Wicked
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark #2
Pages: 356
Publisher: Pocket Star
Format: Paperback
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Won from The Bookish Snob

Goodreads Description:
Centuries ago, Sebastian Wroth was turned into a vampire against his will. Burdened with hatred and alone for ages, he sees little reason to live. Until an exquisite, fey creature comes to kill him.When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters to a vampire attack long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow -- accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions. Yet whenever she encounters Sebastian, her feelings emerge multiplied. For the first time, she's unable to complete a kill. The Hie is a month-long contest with a prize powerful enough to change history, and Kaderin will do anything to win it for her sisters. Wanting only to win her, forever, Sebastian competes as well, taking every opportunity -- as they travel to ancient tombs and through catacombs, seeking relics around the world -- to use her new feelings to seduce her. But when forced to choose between the vampire she's falling for and reuniting her family, how can Kaderin live without either?


My Review:
I just finished this book like 10 minutes ago and I just had to run over here to write about it. I think that maybe I should have taken a cold shower first ...wow... My-Oh-My...Let's just say that the second book in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series is definitely a book that can get you through those long cold nights of winter that are coming down upon us. Holy Hotness... I am absolutely thrilled with pretty much every aspect of this book, which makes me happy, because I was worried about it at first.You know how you love the first book in a series, and you are afraid that the next one will fall flat after how good the first one was? Well, rest assured that this second is one you will want to get your hands on. I found it just as good, if not even more incredible than the first book, A Hunger Like No Other.

This book is centered on Sebastian and Kaderin, and their fight to figure out their relationship while they are competing in the Hie: a supernatural version of the Amazing Race. This kept the plot of the book both fast paced, and extremely swoon-worthy. There is all sorts of things going on, from mythical monsters such as dragons and fire serpents,to something as simple as swimming through shark infested waters. And of course, the entire race Sebastian is trying to get into Kaderin's pants. Totally hilarious. I loved how he started pestering her and finally just used the prizes to barter for sexual favors. It could seem a little whore-ish...but I dug it. lol. Even though their physical relationship is kind of explosive and progresses quickly, I really enjoyed their banter and fighting. You don't get the sense of "love at first sight" which is good. Kaderin makes Sebastian work for her heart and her body, and that makes it that much hotter when he finally succeeds.

I think that you could read this as a stand-alone if you wanted to, but it makes a bit more sense if you read the first book. There are references to Emmaline and Lachlain, the main characters in the first book, and some things that are discussed in the first book are also brought up in No Rest for the Wicked. Also, one of the main supporting character's, Bowen, is a side character that you get to know in the first book, so understanding him helps you identify and understand his actions in this book. I just found out that there was a novella that can be read as a prequel and might be able to help you understand the relationships better. I will have to give it a try, because even I get a tad confused on some of the details that aren't explained well enough in these first two books.

I absolutely adore all the Valkyrie women. Individually and collectively, they are the best extended family I have ever read about. Experiencing life with the Valkyrie seems to be a little like living with kleptomaniac sorority girls who...like normal sorority girls...love all things sparkly or jewel-covered and spend most of their time running around gossiping and shrieking at each other. Unlike normal sorority girls however, the Valkyrie also like to kill vampires and shoot lightning all around when they are feeling a particularly strong emotion. I loved the mixture of the past and present in the girl's daily lives. They fight off the Horde with ancient swords and fighting techniques, then go home to their manor and cry over Lifetime movies and fight over popcorn and who is better at video-games. Then they shriek and roll around fighting over it until they have a video-game tournament to decide once and for all. I'd like to see a party between the Valkyrie women and the boys of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...now THAT would be a frat-party to remember...ahah. Regardless, from Nucking Futs Nix to Kaderin the Cold-Hearted, these girls are hilarious, fierce, and fantastic females that know how to fight and have fun...usually at the same time.

1/2

I give No Rest for the Wicked 4 and 1/2 Keys. There is so much awesome in this book that it's hard to put it into words. Bizarre and hilarious characters mix with complicated and mysterious plots, all mixed together with a supernatural Battle Royal combo treasure hunt. I have to say that this was one of the funnest, and hottest books I've read in a while. It's another one of those series that you want to run out and get the entire set so you can get your fill of hot lusty men and amazing and original plots.

Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Title: A Hunger Like No Other
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 360
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Won from Shelbie @ Time Turners

Goodreads Description:
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him. Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be? 

My Review:
How is it that I have waited this long to read anything by Kresley Cole?? Total. Epic.#readerfail (yes I did just hash tag in a blog post...twitter has ruined me). I apologize to Ms. Cole, and she should know that I am now scrambling to find the entire Immortals After Dark series. ALL of them....and assuming that I like the rest of the series as much as I liked the first book, I will be searching out all and any other books in her repertoire. I really need to stop adding to my TBR pile...it's massively scary. If I actually had copies of all the books I want to read, they would probably fill up a small cathedral or something. But we're not here to cry about how many books I need to read, we're here to talk about hot Scottish men!

Oh Lochlain...poor wounded and tormented Lachlain...The poor mans been tortured for over a hundred years and all I wanted to do is comfort him...come on you guys, you have to love the tortured hero! Especially if he is a particularly attractive and muscled Scotsman who has an adorable accent, is the werewolf kind, and has riches up the yin yang. I wasn't such a big fan of him at first, because of the arrogant and biased way he treated Emmaline just because she was a vampire. His prejudices, however justified, almost led to horrible things happening to the couple and I am just glad that he was able to get over it in time for everything to work out in the end. I really like the idea of a soul mate. Call me a romantic, but I love the idea that there is your one true love waiting out there for you somewhere, and all you have to do is find them. That Lachlain has waited so long for Emma totally increases the swoon-worthyness of their courtship.

I really liked Emmaline. At the tender age of 70, she is the youngest Valkyrie and the only vampire girl. (she's a halfsie obviously) Her aunts have tried to keep her existence secret but it seems like someone found out because now people are hunting her left and right. I liked that she was so nice and innocent. She really grew as a person throughout the book without losing the almost childlike caring and appreciation she has for the world. I felt like she was the perfect counterpart to Lachlain, whose time in the vampire prison has almost driven him mad. Holy crap the ending is amazing for Emma! You find out a ton about her history, she finally accepts Lachlain, and she really comes into her own in the battlefield. Loved it! Though I could have used an even longer fight scene. Those are my absolute favorites!

I totally ADORED the Valkyrie aunts. They were overprotective in a cute compassionate way, and you can tell that they are one big, screaming, loving, fighting family. True, they can be cold and ruthless, but after a while you see that they are just tough freaking harpies by nature and that they are just trying to protect their own. It was cool to see them just hanging out with popcorn, watching movies, and being "normal", yet they are centuries old beings of war and destruction that eat and produce lightning. They were pretty original. I have never read anything about Valkyries so I have nothing to base my ideas off of, but I thought they were really cool. I also liked the originality of the wraiths and ghouls, so I look forward to hearing more side stories about them.

Occasionally, I did feel like I had missed something when it came to the history of all the different sects and races of the Lore, horde, etc. Right from the first page there are references to the different castes and about the Lore in general that I didn't understand. I was confused enough to have to go double check that HLNO was the first book in the series. It was, so I struggled a bit through the initial descriptions and names of the different Valkyries, vamps, weres, wraiths, etc. You kind of just have to jump in and hope that everything gets clearer as you go along...which it does for the most part. Still, I wish there was more of a definite description of the races, the members of each race, and the interactions and alliances between everyone. Though I suppose that will all come in time and I will just have to keep reading...which I am happy to do :)

The love scenes were so freaking hot! I loved how Lachlain and Emma's relationship developed. She was super sweet and innocent, and he was this almost insane, demanding, amazing warrior god and it was really great seeing them interact. The alternating viewpoints really helped you identify with everyone involved because you could see all underlying emotions and the reasons behind their decisions and could tell that everyone was dealing with a lot. When Emma and Lachlain FINALLY get it on, it is a freaking life changing event man. It wasn't super (and grossly) descriptive like a lot of Paranormal Romances, which I really liked. It was a really great scene and now I am fully invested in Emma/Lachlain.  You can just feel their connection and  more importantly, their friendship.

I give this book 4 Keys out of 5! I really enjoyed it! It kind of reminded me of The Black Dagger Brotherhood...only with women Valkyries who all live together...hey there's a thought...get all the Valkyries and the BDB together for a mixer! Partayyy! Anywhoo...I will most definitely be checking out all of the rest of this series and I can't wait to see what happens with the rest of the characters. I want to know more about the history of all the creatures in the Lore and can't wait to see the repercussions of Emmaline killing dear old dad.  I'll see you later lovies! Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you check out my giveaways going on over there in the sidebar!